


He was my friend.

by BarPurple



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mental Institution, Emotional Hurt, Episode: s03e01 The Empty Hearse, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Institutions, Mentions of Suicide, Post-The Reichenbach Fall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 06:37:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4909102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock jumped and John broke. </p><p>Admitted to a mental health facility John has to work his way back to reality, the reality of life after Sherlock's fall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He was my friend.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a first run of an idea. I don't know if it's going to go any further.

The rain was drumming on the windows of the doctor’s office. John sat watching the drops chase each other down to the panes.

“John? John, look at me please.”

It took effort for him to turn his head, but slowly he faced his therapist.

“Do you know why you’re here John?”

John licked his bottom lip. It was dry and cracked so he licked it again. Someone had asked him a question. Did he have to answer? Could he answer?

“My friend, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, he fell.”

“Yes John. He jumped from the roof of St Bart’s. He committed suicide.”

John’s head snapped up and his fists clenched. He lurched forward against the restraints, almost causing the wheelchair to topple.

“NO! Why do you keep saying that? Why?”

With a deep sigh the doctor nodded at the orderly stationed behind John’s chair. In a swift move he step forward and injected John with a high dose of sedative. It took all the burly man’s strength to hold the short ex-army doctor in his chair until the drug had a chance to work. The orderly wheeled the chair containing the slumped patient back to his room. 

The doctor made her recommendation on his file. John Watson had a long, hard road in front of him and she wasn’t sure if there was enough left of the broken man to put back together again.

 

===

 

The cup hit the table in front of John with a hard clunk. 

The grim room around him sloshed and settled with the liquid in the cup and he was home.

_“I’m sorry it’s been so long Mr Hudson. It was just so hard.”_

_“I know John. It’s been a difficult two months.”_

_Mrs Hudson eased her sore hip into the chair beside him and patted his hand. John smiled at her. They understood each other._

_The warmth of her little kitchen appeared to shift for a second, but John put that down to the tears filling his eyes. His not-housekeeper patted his hand again._

The nurse patted John’s hand and tried to catch the attention of his glassy eyes. She shook her head.

“He’s gone again Doctor.”

“Let me know what he says, it might give us a clue as how to treat him.”

Nurse Morstan nodded to the doctor and turned to watch her charge.

“Where are you John?”

 

===

 

“What the hell happened?”

Nurse Morstan ran her hands over her crumpled uniform and took a deep breath.

“John was eating dinner, he was present and lucid, but he had a negative reaction to one of the other patients.”

“A negative reaction? He tackled him to the floor and tried to choke him!”

“I think it was the physical appearance that triggered him. Mr Scott is tall, slim with dark curly hair.”

The doctor paused for a moment and she could see the moment the penny dropped. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from giggling as the look on his face put her in mind of a stunned goldfish.

“Similar to the dead detective. I see, I had hoped we were making some progress.”

Mary tilted her head and fixed the doctor with a hard stare.

“It’s human nature to mourn, doctor. I’ll talk to him once he’s awake. I’m sure I can bring him round to seeing the truth.”

 

===

 

John rubbed his hand across his face and marvelled at the beard that lay between his hand and his jaw. Had he really been here that long? Nurse Morstan bustled into the room with an electric razor.

“Ready to lose the face fuzz?”

“Oh yes.”

John tried to ignore the slight tremor in his hand as he shaved the lower part of his face. On a whim he left his top lip to last. He turned to his nurse with a speculative look on his face. She chuckled into her hand and shrugged. It wasn’t a no, exactly, John turned back to the mirror and considered the moustache for a moment. 

_I prefer my doctors clean shaven_

Mary caught the twitch of John’s head.

“John?”

“I don’t shave for Sherlock Holmes.”

With a deep breath John put the razor down and began to wash the beard trimmings from his face. Mary gave him the once over as he turned from the sink.

“You keeping it then?”

“Yeah, I think it works for me.”

 

===

 

Patient Records - John H. Watson 

Date – November 5th

Notes – adverse reaction to new medication. Paralysis, choking, fever. 

Stabilized new medication discontinued.

Additional – patient’s first word on recovery was ‘Sherlock’  
====


End file.
